Pop Telecom to launch major assault on b2b market

Consumer MVNO Pop Telecom is turning its sights on the b2b market with plans to offer cut-price, flexible deals to small businesses.

The company, launched 27 years ago as Docklands Telecoms Centre, supplies fixed line and mobile services to more than 300,000 consumers. It is now turning its sights on the b2b market, targeting SMEs with two to 50 connections.

Pop Telecom will offer b2b mobile, landline and broadband deals from December, with plans to include VOIP, data and Cloud-based services such as Office 365 and target larger SMEs as it grows.

The company, based in Romford and Newmarket, has appointed telecoms consultant Jason Brant as head of business sales. Brant’s brief is to lead the company’s advance into the b2b sector. His former roles include telemarketing chief at Olive Communications and sales director at Commsxchange.

Brant is currently training a hand-picked b2b telemarketing sales team which he will manage. The team will target a database of more than 20,000 potential b2b customers. Brant said Pop Telecom’s b2b strategy is to offer the most competitive mobile and landline tariffs and bundle packages to the UK’s SME market.

‘Pop Telecom will shake up the b2b market. A lot of SMEs out there are very much price driven and we will be able to offer the most flexible, value-for-money deals on the market,’ he said, adding that Pop’s MVNO business model allows it to offer more competitive tariffs and greater flexibility than b2b network partners.

The b2b offering will include flexible contract terms including shor- term contract trials, from one month upwards; the option of switching networks within contract, at no extra cost; no tariff increases during contract; and a pledge to provide the lowest b2b deals on the market.

Brant predicts strong growth of the b2b business in the first year. ‘We believe that by this time next year we will have at least 10,000 b2b connections,’ he said.

Pop Telecom is also planning to double its telemarketing team to eight by the end of the first year and take on a field sales team to target larger SMEs.

Brant said: ‘Pop Telecom is well established in the consumer market as a major player so is already in a strong position to go for the b2b market. This company has a firm grip on pricing, it understands the meaning of sustainable growth, it has great customer service and all the structures required to get it to where it wants to be in the b2b market. We will be a hard force to reckon with.’

POP Telecoms sales director Roy Abbott said: ‘As we continue to grow the POP Telecom brand we have made a number of important placements in the business to underpin our success in the consumer market place and push on into the b2b arena. Jason’s placement at POP Telecom shows our commitment to this sector.’